Six Flags, American Idol, Sarah/Chris weekend out

SIX FLAGS WITH STACI AND JORDAN

A few weeks ago, some of Sarah's old friends, Staci and Jordan, came from Tuscaloosa to visit us (i.e. Go to six flags). Friday night was really fun; we had a great dinner and had a lot of time to catch up. Saturday we woke up early and started the day off with an essential breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. We arrived at DD around 9:00 and the temperature was already in the high 80s. This should have been my sign that the day was going to be very long. I realize now I should have politely pretended to have a terrible head ache and a stomach bug. I must admit that I am not the biggest fan of roller coasters. When we arrived at Six Flags, the park was already packed. The temp was rising quickly and the lines were extending even quicker. We were at SF for a total of seven hours and rode a total of...hhmmmm...4 rides (one of the rides twice). I should emphasize that we thoroughly enjoyed the time with Staci and Jordan but will probably opt to a cooler venue next year.

AMERICAN IDOL

Okay so I did it...I tried out for American Idol. My friend Mark and his girlfriend Jennie drove down from West Virginia to see us (i.e. try out for A.I). I must say it was a very interesting experience. There were a total of about 15,000 people that tried out that day. As most of you might guess or already know, very few people get to try out in front of Randy, Simon, Paula, and the new girl. Everyone registers two days before the tryout at which time you get a wrist band and ticket. On the third day, everyone that has registered shows up ready to be a star. Needless to say we met a lot of interesting people. Some people had flown in from all around the country. For some, this was their 9th or 10th tryout. At 8:00 a.m. (after sitting outside since 5:00) they herded everyone into the stadium.

First they have a song that the entire crowd sings while the cameras pan over faces. Our chosen song was "Oops I Did It Again." We had to sing through this song probably 20 times. The song actually sounded pretty good. There were even some people harmonizing in the crowd. I figured there must be some other COC people among us. After that little segment the waiting begins. There are rows of tables with a couple of producers at each table. As stated earlier, we arrived at the stadium at 5:00 a.m....we tried out at 3:00 p.m.!! With American Idol and Six Flags, I had the longest two days of my life within one week. The judge lined everyone up in groups of four. Once you get to your assigned table, the judge points to a person and says, "sing...okay stop...you sing...okay stop...you sing" and so on. The judge either tells everyone they suck or they let one person move to the next round. As you know if you have seen American Idol many people make it through that are TERRIBLE! These people go through rounds and rounds of producers before they get to see the famous judges. I know people wonder why a lot of these people that are so bad look so surprised when they see Simon and the gang and are told, "they have the worst voice in the world." Well, by this time, they have had dozens of people tell them they are awesome...tragic really.

Here is a bad pic taken with my phone of all the wanna be stars...I was directly in the middle so there is an equal amount of people on the other side.

We had a few days....

Because of the 4th of July holiday Sarah and I rented a cabin in North Georgia for a few days. The place we stayed was called Cabins and Coffee. We had a great time. We got to the cabins late Thursday and went straight to bed. On Friday Sarah, Emory and I spend the day hiking to a couple of waterfalls. The day was absolutely beautiful and the hike was easy but really fun.

Friday night Sarah and I were too tired to do much so we decided to go see a movie with some of the locals. Now remember...we were in RURAL Georgia...very different from Atlanta. I made the mistake of wearing an Obama t-shirt. When we arrived at the theater, I quickly scrambled to find a jacket after observing the company. The movie was very cheap...we got two tickets, popcorn, drinks, and candy for $17.00!

Over all the weekend was great...we relaxed, slept a lot, had fun, hiked, ate comfort food, and enjoyed a heart shaped Jacuzzi (cool i know).

4th OF JULY

So 4th of July happens to by my favorite holiday. I think this is for a couple of reasons. One, the only expectation is to find somewhere to hang out and have fun. Yes, people spend a lot of money on supplies but no one expects presents and people just want to see a good fireworks show. Also the 4th introduces things that I love (cook-outs, fireworks, watermelon, and homemade ice-cream). We spent our second year with the Touchton's. Not only are Ryan and Cheryl the coolest people ever, they also have the ideal place to celebrate the 4th. The live near the Old square of Marietta. There is a parade, lots of people, a pool, and there is an awesome firework show. It was a ton of fun. We really enjoyed spending time with everyone there and we hope that this becomes a tradition.

Happy belated Independence Day!